Air Evans zooms to Woodside triumph

NEWPORT NEWS — Woodside is a running team. And pretty good one at that.

But with a couple of starters out from the backfield, coach Danny Dodson went to Plan B.

Aaron Evans went 7-for-11 for 117 yards and three touchdowns — all of that in the first half — as Woodside jumped ahead early and cruised to a 43-13 victory over Kecoughtan at Todd Stadium on Saturday.

"We've been able to throw the ball at times pretty good," Dodson said. "It just felt like it was time to bring that out today."

Woodside improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the Peninsula District, its loss coming to unbeaten Phoebus.

Evans' 17-yard touchdown pass to Justin McFadden put the Wolverines up 14-0 just 56 seconds into the second quarter.

Evans rolled out to his right and hit McFadden in the back right corner of the end zone.

On the next possession, Evans and Daniel Reid hooked up for a 21-yard score. Wide receiver Majique Key caught a 19-yard pass for another touchdown on a corner route as the Wolverines took a 28-0 lead into the half.

With everything working, Evans and the offense looked and felt like Olympians.

"It just felt like we couldn't be beat," Evans said. "It feels like the game is moving slow, everybody is moving slow and we're just the fastest people in the world, like Usain Bolt or something."

As fast as the Wolverines were in the first half, Melkim Reaves matched them after halftime.

Though Kecoughtan (4-4, 4-3) was playing from behind, Reaves rushed for 118 yards on eight carries after the break. With his family from North Carolina in attendance providing him extra motivation, Reaves scored two touchdowns in the second half, the second on a 55-yard run in which he broke multiple tackles.

"At halftime, our coach was telling about how bad of a job we were doing as a team," Reaves said. "When I came out in the second half, I was just trying to prove them wrong, like they told us to do."

The first-half deficit proved too much, though, as did Kecoughtan's 10 penalties for 99 yards. But Reaves and Kecoughtan achieved a certain level of respect in the second half.

"He was a monster. He never stopped moving; he was a workhorse," Evans said of Reaves. "I respect that tremendously. They made it tough for us. They kept fighting the whole game. We had to stay on our toes."